Sell It! Some Tips from a Marketer on Making the Business Case for Breastfeeding

Abstract

Breastfeeding advocates well understand the importance of employers providing lactation support for their employees. It not only provides direct support for mothers who are breastfeeding, but also delivers an important norm-setting message for breastfeeding to all employees. It's therefore no surprise that extensive and productive work has gone into creating documents and conducting workshops on “making the business case for breastfeeding” to employer audiences. Based on 25 years of experience in advertising, public relations, and social marketing, my purpose here is to provide some tips that make the distinction between the marketing challenge—documenting that the benefits to employers of providing lactation support outweigh the costs—and what I call the “selling challenge.” While the marketing challenge is fundamentally about logic and data, the selling challenge is about blending logic and data into an emotionally engaging presentation that takes a decision-maker on a journey from “willing-to-listen” to “committed-to-change.”

In marketers' jargon, this is not about making the case. It's about making the pitch.

It's useful to think of any pitch, including the pitch for employer support for breastfeeding, as akin to a play in three acts. Students of theater refer to the “dramatic arc” of a play from exposition to climax to denouement. In similar fashion, the successful sales pitch for employer lactation support follows a similar dramatic structure.

Act I: Why Should I Be Thinking About This?

Your objective in the first act is to both engage your audience in the drama and provide information necessary to understand and care about what will come next. The first act is also an opportunity to disarm the audience's natural resistance to “being sold.” My recommendation would be to use Act I to frame the discussion in broader terms than supporting breastfeeding. Yes, the pitch will be about breastfeeding, but really, the discussion is women, about women in the workforce and the future of work itself. Most importantly, it's about change.

Why make the opening discussion about change? The most important answer is that being on top of trends and effectively responding to change is the essential job description of leaders of organizations. It grabs their attention. In addition, it gives you a chance to start the discussion by providing useful information and thereby disarm your audience. At this point, there's no persuasion going on, so there's nothing to “resist.”

The information I'd recommend sharing in Act I would be about the rising numbers, importance, and power of women in the workplace. The facts to substantiate this trend are readily available:

In 2009, almost 2 million women earned over $100,000, a fourfold increase in just a decade.

60% of women with business degrees and 75% of executive women working for Fortune 500 companies out-earn their husbands.¹

Ten years ago, women held a small lead over men in bachelor's degrees (30% vs. 27%). In 2009, the gap has widened to 35% to 27%.²

While perhaps generally aware of these trends, the employers at the end of Act I have been stimulated to think about the rise of women in work, an issue that's surely worth thinking about. Moreover, you as the presenter have become an expert informant, not just a breastfeeding advocate.

Act II. Why Should I Care About This?

In drama, the second act is known for “rising action.” Similarly, your objective in Act II of the pitch is to guide the discussion of the general trend of the rising power of women at work to the more specific and emotionally engaging discussion of the implications of that trend for this specific employer. You're not the expert on this topic, and, in any case, it's much better to allow the employer to become an active participant in the drama. Your role is to ask the questions that establish the nature and degree of relevance of issues related to women employees (and, ultimately, lactation support) for this employer. Such questions might include:

How important is attracting the best talent in your business?

How important is it to reduce employee churn?

What are your greatest productivity challenges?

How important is it to better control health expenditures?

How important are women in your value chain (consumers, suppliers, consultants, vendors, etc.)?

As the employer answers these questions, two things are happening. First, the employer is becoming intellectually and emotionally engaged in the process. Second, you are learning more about the key selling points that you will be able to make in Act III.

Act III. How Will This Help Me Win?

Scene 1

At this point, the members of the audience, to varying degrees, have convinced themselves that it's important that they are doing better than their competition to retain and attract the most talented women to their company. Now they are focused on their problem, and they need good solutions. They're ready to hear about increasing their support for lactation. Your objective in the first scene of the climatic Act III is not just to tell them that lactation support is a good response to their problem, but that it's the most important, easiest, and smartest change they can make. Key points would include:

Lactation support is catching on (from 19% to 26% adoption between 2005 and 2007), but still a lower percentage than other family-friendly benefits. (Message 1: You can differentiate your company! Message 2: You're not the “pioneer” adopter—that would be too risky—but still an “early” adopter who can get the leadership credit with lower risk.)

Lactation support is THE most powerful signal you can send to ALL employees and visitors that you're a company that provides a supportive environment for women. (Message: Just imagine the visual impact of a well-appointed lactation room!)

It's easy. We offer soup to nuts start-up assistance and a support program. (Message: Your downside risk in change implementation is minimized.)

Scene 2

Now that the benefits of lactation support are salient, it's time to begin talking about the price, responding to concerns and objections. Here are a few tips I'd recommend at this stage.

First, when it comes to talking about the costs versus the economic benefits of implementing lactation support, the evidence for favorable economic outcomes for employers comes in the form of case studies, not systematic studies of large numbers of companies. While it's important to discuss these case studies to make the case for cost-effectiveness, it's important not to oversell them. Every employer believes his or her company is unique, and business leaders are quite expert in gauging the quality of evidence regarding cost–benefit decisions.

Second, it's often the case that employers will not proactively express their objections or concerns. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that they don't have them. It's a much better strategy to anticipate questions and objections and, whenever possible, coach them to ask them. This usually takes the form of leading questions: “Some people have concerns that … Is this a concern that you share?”

Finally, you're ready for the climax. Close the sale! Ask for the commitment. Surprisingly, many of us are reluctant to actually do this. Perhaps we anticipate that the response won't be positive, or we don't want to be “pushy.” Get over it. Indeed, the response is likely to be “We'll seriously consider it” rather than a full-throated “Yes,” but, either way, getting the public response is critical. It opens the door for further discussion.

Asking for the commitment also conveys something important about you. You believe in what you're selling here. And, in the end, as the protagonist in this drama, you're willing to put yourself on the line.

Good luck in this critical endeavor for women and for public health.

Or, as we say in the trade: Break a leg.

Footnotes

Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

References

The Allianz Women, Money, and Power Study. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, Minneapolis, 2006.

Current Population Survey, 2009 Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement. Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Census Bureau: Washington, DC, 2009.